who am i?

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Arise oh compatriots...

“I look around at some of my compatriots, and I see anger (not optimism) in their eyes, pain (not will) in their resolve, and I see disdain (unwillingness to give d benefit of doubt to public officers)...and I say to them today- PROGRESS DOES NOT HAVE TO COME ON THE ALTAR OF ADVERSITY!” Ade via facebook

I love the awakening of the passion of the Nigerian Youth for their country. It’s exciting to see a generation that has been tepid get red hot. So hot that they melt themselves(ok, bad joke) Its like the national anthem coming to life "arise o compatriots, Nigerians call obey...."
What kills me about this awakening is the negativity they exhume, they’re so full of bitterness that I’m scared they wouldn’t even notice when the sweet they fight for is given to them. They’re so against PDP/ACN or whatever party doesnt sound nice, that they’re unwilling to see if there’s any hope or slight improvements. If you’re not willing to give a person a chance, how do you expect him to perform? wouldn't you rather work with whomever is in power and fight for change than stay outside the box watching and criticizing every move? would you rather let yourself have an accident because you hate the driver of the car, so you don't bother to tell him to stop when he ought to?

“never hate your enemies, it affects your judgment.” Michael Corleone

Everyday on facebook someone is lamenting (calling politicians bastards while seating in some pepper soup joint, or updating your fb status cos you have nothing better to do doesn't make things right, or make you look good for that matter)

Every thing is the fault of the government, any accident we hear about, we scream ‘government’ even when its on a nicely tarred road with no potholes, it doesn’t matter if the driver was drunk or speeding… it has to be the government, because in our minds, the government is responsible for the air we breath. We may not be far from where we’ve always been as a country, but we’re not where we used to be. Someone was complaining about the weather the other day and i almost made a comment 'the government ought to do something about it" that's how spoilt we've become, we expect everything to be done for us, without trying on our own. I mean, so maybe the government can help with the heat by constant power supply, but if you don't take off your shirt and fan yourself when you wait for help, na you sabi.

I’ve realized that most of us don’t think for ourselves, we read other blogs and Sahara reporters et co, and just sound off what we’ve read without giving it a thought just like the duffleduds in chronicles of Narnia. Empty gongs that make the loudest noise when hit with the news on the websites… If that’s what most people think then that’s what you should think. No rationalizing, just judging all the way. Most of the youths are just uneducated graduates.

It’s like the Lagos market place, you see a person running and you run along, without finding out the reason, because you don’t want to be caught in whatever it is that's causing the mayhem, thirty minutes later you think to stop and ask "why are we running?" but then its too late, you've lost a couple of things in your panic, just because a woman was running home when she remembered she left her gas on.

Most have lost credibility in my sight as they only speak against the government when they’re not the ones ‘chopping’ they hate it someone else is there, and thus fight with all their might for their ‘person’ so they can arrive. I'm not even sure what we're crying for anymore, because just a handful of the youths are genuinely pained... most are just pained till they get into the system and start 'chopping' and that's all. Just a few are awakening with fresh breaths, they others just stink and make waking up distatseful.

Our hate has clouded our minds and we don't realize that the future we spoke of is here(days we sang we are the future of the world), now, and we are it, in it,and its time to take it. Not by making noise on facebook, or the web pages, or by giving hideous names to the politicians, but by building ourselves through educating ourselves beyond our books, even when there's no job.
By learning to be less selfish, by joining queues when we see them and not cutting corners, by not giving the little bribes, by not being late for appointments(afterall its african time) by not biting more than we can swallow, by being honest and reliable, by following due process.... the big things we criticize the top dogs for are the little things we chew ourselves, if we can't stop the 'dropping something' at our level, how are we going to be able to stop it(corruption) when we're given a chance to lead??
By not trying to bite off the heads of those who were invited to a lunch with the president. How else do you get heard and exchange ideas if you hate your 'enemies/government' so much you refuse to dine with him and put your cards on the table?

Ask the average youth screaming for change off camera why he wants to be in a position of leadership, you'll be shocked at what you'll hear "chopping". And i wonder, are you insulting the government out of office just to go in and do what they did? What is your motivation to get to the top, be it in government or your private practice? if its just about money and power then maybe the youths should go back to bed.

The future is now for the youths, its our time, its not enough to be intellectual and look out for only the bad, the now belongs to us, its time to start hunting for the good and highlighting it, grabbing opportunities and using it as stepping stones, giving ourselves the hope we desperately need, by being the good we ought to be.
Let's learn to wake up with fresh breaths, bad breaths are not appealing.

5 comments
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*sigh* The problem Ive realised is self righteousness. It seems there are lots of empty barrels proclaiming a lot of things in this country. The moment we stop complaing and start grabbing oppurtunitoes like you said, is the moment things REALLY begin to happen.